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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22442452">Dancing In The Dark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/UninspiredPoet/pseuds/UninspiredPoet'>UninspiredPoet</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World of Warcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Casual Sex, F/F, Lesbian Sex, Let Alleria fuck, Slightly sweeter than usual brat'ing, Valeera deserves a little void dick, as a treat, mildly kinky, post-sex softness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:02:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,692</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22442452</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/UninspiredPoet/pseuds/UninspiredPoet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alleria hasn't known her place since she returned to Azeroth. It certainly isn't in Quel'Thalas. It certainly isn't with Turalyon. The world is far too bright, now. Bright enough to burn away what little Alleria has left of herself. </p><p>Until she finds her place in the shadows with the Uncrowned. Until Valeera decides she needs to check up on her order's new charge, who she has vouched for, personally.</p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <i>((Disclaimer: My not-for-profit transformative work is only published by me on Archive of Our Own. I do not give my consent or authorization for it to be reproduced or displayed on any third-party websites or apps.))</i>
  </p>
</div>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Valeera Sanguinar/Alleria Windrunner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dancing In The Dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
</div><i>“Are you lost, Lady Windrunner?”</i><p>
  <i>Alleria’s eyes narrowed as she turned in the direction of that voice only to find nothing, and she drew the dagger from her thigh slowly. A bow would be of no use in the sewers she'd been navigating. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Valeera regarded her silently from the shadows. Utterly unseen. She watched the way Alleria moved. The way her ears swiveled to catch the barest hint if unfamiliar sound. Like some wild thing that wasn't sure if it was stalking or being stalked. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>There was something slightly off about her movements, however. No doubt due to the heavy pack she carried on her back. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Running, then. From what, I wonder.” Valeera whispered from much farther away than Alleria had heard her the first time. “Run the other way. Run home. This is no place for someone like you.” </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Alleria steadied her breathing. Her boots went still in the filthy, stagnant water in the center of the seldom-used tunnel she'd found herself in. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“And what if ‘home’ is what I'm running from?” She demanded into the darkness. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Suddenly, the shadows fell away from Valeera like so much water. Hissing as they went.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Alleria swung her dagger in the direction of the noise and found it hooked in the edge of a much deadlier weapon - dripping with poison and glowing the same green as her pursuer’s eyes. Valeera’s arm hadn't even moved, and Alleria knew the dagger waiting nearby in the woman’s other hand would be meant for her if she tried anything. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Sin’dorei.” Alleria hissed as her nostrils flared slightly. “I haven't even attempted to return to Silvermoon. You've no cause to follow me here.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Valeera’s red-painted lips turned up slightly, and with an easy motion of her wrist, Alleria’s blade went clattering into the water at their feet. “Sin’dorei, yes. Following you? No. You were the one who wandered into this place. And I am hard-pressed to believe it was not intentional.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I've come to seek audience with your council,” Alleria said as Valeera kept one of her blades between them. The whispers were deafening, then. Urging her to strike out. Vying for dominance over her actions and her mind. So deafening were they, that Alleria had to grit her teeth as her eyes darkened for a moment. As the whispers became so loud even Valeera's ears twitched faintly.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I see you haven't come alone.” Valeera almost purred those words. Like she was speaking to someone...or something other than Alleria. “How interesting. I'd heard of your debacle at the Sunwell, of course. But to feel it in person...very well. You may have your audience.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“You speak for your council?” Alleria asked as she willed the overwhelming presence inside herself into some semblance of ‘tame’.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Valeera had already begun walking. Behind Alleria, of course. She would never turn her back on a stranger. Or anyone else, for that matter. Depending on the circumstances, of course… </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I am on the council, Lady Windrunner.” Valeera corrected. If there was any bite to her words, it was hidden beneath the honeyed silk of her voice. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I don't recognize you…”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Of course, you don't. You were gone for far longer than I have even been alive. I spend most of my time in Stormwind.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“How?” Alleria asked, the disbelief clearly etched into the edges of her voice.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“How? I do as I please, Lady Windrunner.” Valeera replied with a little chuckle as she moved to walk at Alleria’s side, instead - offering her the dagger that Alleria had thought had been left on the sewer floor. She could have sworn she'd heard it fall when Valeera disarmed her. She certainly hadn't seen the woman pick it up. “Put it away before you hurt yourself.”</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
</div><p>Alleria would come to learn over the next few months that she had been right to come here. That the tasks that were asked of her were ones that she was almost too suited for. They appeased the whispers that always plagued her.  </p><p>She’d come to find that she liked it in the shadows. She liked her room. The darkness of it only barely illuminated by a small woodburning stove and a lantern on her desk. Unless you stepped outside, you’d never have guessed you were living in a sewer. And it wasn’t as though Alleria felt like she deserved this.</p><p>It wasn’t something to “deserve”. She didn’t feel any sort of way in regards to that. On the contrary, it was heavenly to not be bathed and blinded by a light she would never again belong in. </p><p>Her thoughts kept drifting as she continued honing her blade, looking along the edge of it and testing for the bur that eventually folded over and would allow her to finish with a razor edge. </p><p>Her hands stilled and her ears twisted slightly as she glanced over her desk at the door that led to the hallway. </p><p>A flicker through the window. One that was now somewhat familiar. </p><p>“Come in.” </p><p>Valeera opened the door and slipped inside, pressing it shut before she drew the curtain across the window in the door that Alleria had left open. </p><p>“You shouldn’t do that, you know.” </p><p>“Why?” Alleria asked with a lift of one of her brows as she continued on with her task, only stopping when she ran the blade at a diagonal across her forearm and watched as the find blonde hairs there made a little pile along its edge. </p><p>Valeera approached Alleria’s desk and ran her fingertips along the whetstone she’d been using as her sharp eyes took Alleria in. A moment later, Valeera was producing a small pouch of gold that landed on the desk with a muffled jingle. “Your stipend. The council has agreed to raise it, taking into account your recent successes.” </p><p>Alleria looked from the pouch to Valeera and leaned back in her chair as she slipped her dagger back into her boot. “Strange that you would be the one to deliver this. And you don’t exactly look like you were on your way out.” </p><p>It was true. Valeera wasn’t in her usual kit. There was no crimson leather and no intricate pauldrons, and she was all in black. Black leggings and a loose black shirt that should have been tied more tightly against her chest, but wasn’t. Her hair, too, was different. Just the top pulled back while the rest hung in impossibly long waves beneath. </p><p>“I was the one that vouched for you. It’s only right that I be the one to check in until you’re settled. Are you, by the way?” Valeera moved to sit on the edge of Alleria’s desk as Alleria kept watching her. “Settled?” </p><p>Alleria nodded faintly. “Surprisingly so.” </p><p>Valeera’s lips curled just so. “Even taking into account the absence of your family?” </p><p>Alleria was quiet for a while before she stood slowly, though she didn’t move away from Valeera. </p><p>Valeera wasn’t sure if that was meant to be threatening or an invitation for her to leave. She disregarded it entirely. </p><p>“Do you miss them?” </p><p>Alleria exhaled slowly and looked down at the floor at her feet and was surprised when Valeera reached out to toy with the braid that hung from the hood of her cloak. Perhaps that was what convinced her to answer. </p><p>“Would you think me terrible if I said that I do not?” Alleria asked. “My son is a man. He became one before I ever returned home. And now, he is a man who idolizes his father.”</p><p>“And his father?” Valeera continued, slowly guiding Alleria’s hood from her head, watching as her ears sprang free from the slits in it gently and then lowered in response to what Valeera asked. </p><p>“His father is...nothing to me. His father was a burden.” </p><p>Valeera nodded faintly. “I would be lying if I told you I didn’t know what happened there.” </p><p>“That’s only fair,” Alleria responded as she seemed to relax somewhat. “I”m certain I’m not the first person to be scoured upon finding themselves in your order.” </p><p>“Scoured, no…” Valeera said nonchalantly. “It’s more about your attachments. Your liabilities.”</p><p> </p><p>“And you believed them to be a more substantial liability than this?” </p><p>Valeera glanced down at the quiet hiss Alleria’s hand emitted as it was engulfed, if only for a moment, in void energy. </p><p>“An asset,” Valeera responded simply.  “One that we are glad to have.” Valeera lifted her eyes to meet Alleria’s, then. “Even when others have been foolish enough to view it as anything else.” </p><p>Alleria swallowed thickly as Valeera traced along the edge of the hood she’d pulled from her head then grazed her jaw in a light touch. “It doesn’t seem to hinder you here in the least.” </p><p>“Well.” Alleria lifted her hand to take Valeera’s and move it from her face. “I suppose it’s all in how you view things.” </p><p>Valeera found the sensation of the void still rolling gently over Alleria’s hand interesting to say the least. Quite interesting, indeed. </p><p>“I don’t imagine this went over well,” Valeera observed with a lift of her brow when Alleria released her hand. “With your husband, I mean.” </p><p>Alleria scoffed quietly as she sat back down in the chair at her desk rather ungracefully. “Went over well? I couldn’t even touch him.”</p><p>“Can I be honest with you, Lady Windrunner?” Valeera asked as she slid from the edge of the desk and moved to stand in front of Alleria, who nodded faintly as she lifted her gaze slowly until their eyes met. </p><p>“I know your comings and goings. As is to be expected. I know you don’t entertain anyone, here or elsewhere. We don’t discourage casual encounters. I myself encourage them. Frustration of any kind can only be a hindrance when you take into consideration what is asked of us.”  </p><p>“You came to tell me I can have casual sex if I so choose?” Alleria asked with an incredulous look on her face. “I don’t think that would be wise, all things considered.” </p><p>“No,” Valeera answered with a faint shrug. She seemed so unbothered by this. By all of it. “I came to tell you that I understand why you would avoid something like that, taking your history and your...guests...into consideration. I came to tell you that I am quite free tonight and that you can have it with me.”</p><p>Alleria considered this for a while. All of it. She finally put together Valeera’s casual way of dress and the drawing closed of the curtain. “Why?” Alleria asked quietly, and Valeera slowly unclasped her cloak to lay it across the desk she’d been sitting on.</p><p>“Because, Alleria,” She began in a low, velvety tone. “I don’t care what comes out to play.”  </p><p>Alleria’s next exhale shook a bit on its way out, and Valeera moved to kneel between her legs. She hadn’t felt this way in...oh, she couldn’t remember. She couldn’t remember ever feeling the way she felt right now, with Valeera on her knees in front of her. Wanting her. Accepting her. Slowly stroking along the leathers covering her thighs. </p><p>“And have you considered the possibility that I may lose control? That this might not turn out the way you want it to?” </p><p>“Oh, yes. But that’s exactly the way I want it to turn out. I apologize if I’ve come across as the type of person who would enjoy anything mundane.”</p><p>“I’m not some experiment, Valeera,” Alleria whispered though she was looking down at one of Valeera’s hands for a moment before she reached for it - touching it with more intention, this time. Trailing the tips of her fingers over Valeera’s knuckles, even. It felt so nice to just touch someone. “But if you don’t leave, I’m going to take you up on your offer.” </p><p>“You aren’t.” Valeera agreed smoothly. “You are quite attractive, however. In a mysterious, dangerous way. I like that. I’m into that. I want you. And I have no intention of leaving.”   </p><p>“We scarcely know each other,” Alleria whispered, reaching to tilt Valeera’s chin up rather gently. A gentleness that Valeera knew was masking strength that was more than a match for her own, even without taking into consideration Alleria’s other rather unique circumstances. </p><p>“All the better.” Valeera husked, holding Alleria’s gaze with her own as she tilted her chin back down to press her lips against the pad of Alleria’s thumb. “Perhaps we’ll surprise each other.” </p><p>Alleria slowly leaned forward, then, and slid her hand down to graze the edges of Valeera’s shirt - touching over the upper swells of her breasts as she grazed the younger woman’s ear with her teeth. “You are so soft,” Alleria observed a bit breathlessly.</p><p>The vulnerability in the rasp of Alleria’s voice was so incredibly arousing. The knowledge that it had been so long for her...overwhelming. </p><p>“You have no idea...” Valeera murmured, tilting her head for more of Alleria’s attention along her ear. “All the things I’ll be for you tonight.” </p><p>Alleria realized then that she was resolved to this. That Valeera wanted this. That she understood what she was asking for. </p><p>Alleria wondered somewhere in the back of her mind how much she would remember. How clumsy she would be, as she helped Valeera to her feet and reached almost immediately to pull her shirt over her head only to discover the smaller woman all too willing to have it removed, and entirely bare beneath it. </p><p>For just a moment, Alleria paused. Mostly in response to the soft sound that had caught in the back of her own throat at the sight of Valeera. She was stunning. So...utterly exquisite. From the uncharacteristic fullness of her breasts to the soft muscle tone that made up her lithe body. She was as close to perfection as Alleria had ever seen. It had been so long since she'd been with anyone. It had been even longer since ‘anyone’ was a woman. </p><p>And there was just something different about a woman, wasn't there? </p><p>Valeera reached for one of Alleria’s hands, then - drawing it towards her own chest until she felt the warmth of her touch slowly surround her breast. Warmth, and the roughness of her palm. The thick scarring that came from millennia of arrow fletching catching against skin. </p><p>Valeera's other hand came up to tug gently at the back of Alleria’s neck. Guiding her down so that their lips were nearly touching, though she stopped just short of a kiss. Just near enough to feel Alleria's quickened breaths against her lips.</p><p>“Can I take you to bed?” Alleria asked as she just barely ghosted a kiss against Valeera’s lips.</p><p>“You can take me anywhere you like.” Valeera breathed just in time for Alleria to begin backing her across the room. By the time Valeera hit the edge of it, her clothing was gone. It was just boots and leggings left, after all. She hadn’t bothered wearing anything underneath. </p><p>“Let me see you, too.” Valeera gasped as Alleria released her from yet another bruising, breathless kiss. Valeera’s hands were tugging at one of the belts slung around Alleria’s hips and were soon joined by Alleria’s. </p><p>Valeera could have guessed that after everything Alleria had been through, after all the fighting and things considerably worse than fighting, she might look a certain way. Might be chiseled and scarred beneath her armor. She wanted that. She wanted all of that. </p><p>As soon as Alleria’s clothes were discarded on the floor, Valeera shook her head faintly at the sight of hard lines of muscle along Alleria’s thin, sinewy body. But not in a way that made Alleria in any way self-conscious.</p><p>More in a way that had Alleria lifting her onto the bed and pinning her to it in a flurry of movements until their mouths were once again busy with each other and Valeera was wrapping her thighs around slender hips. Hips that were already rocking against her own almost desperately. </p><p>“Fuck me.” Valeera breathed hoarsely against Alleria’s mouth, tangling her fingers in the older woman’s wild hair as it fell around them. When she gave it a rather sharp tug, something in the room changed. She felt tilted, suddenly, on the very axis of her being. </p><p>Alleria was nearly frozen over her as she moved her hands across the expanse of her shoulders - through the dark, cool barrier that had manifested between her touch and Alleria’s skin. </p><p>“I’m sorry.” The apology shuddered from Alleria’s mouth even as tendrils traced all too delicately along the skin of Valeera’s hands and arms.  They withdrew quickly as Alleria’s eyes shut tightly, and Valeera shook her head.</p><p>“Don’t stop,” Valeera whispered. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Alleria. There’s nothing wrong with this.” She reached between them, then, and traced her fingertips against Alleria’s lower abdomen.  </p><p>Alleria relaxed slowly, and as she did - all the things she had worked so hard to keep under control - to keep hidden - returned. But they returned differently, this time. She could <i>feel</i> Valeera’s skin beneath the tendrils of void energy that lapped off of her. And she released a shuddering breath at that realization. </p><p>Valeera grazed her teeth against Alleria’s jaw as she shifted beneath her. As calm as she was, her chest was still heaving. Not with fear. Not with nervousness. Nothing like that. Alleria was leaving a burning trail across her skin everywhere she touched her, despite the coolness of what she was touching her with. “Show me what else can you do.” </p><p>“I don’t know what I can do,” Alleria admitted as she ran one of her very real hands down Valeera’s inner thigh to run her thumb over the glistening, over-sensitive spot that had been painfully lacking in attention. </p><p>“That’s a good start.” Valeera breathed as one of her thighs fell to the side rather lazily. “But the invitation to fuck me still stands.” </p><p>Valeera chuckled lowly as one of those tendrils wrapped around that same thigh, and Alleria clenched her jaw as she looked down at the younger woman. </p><p>“What do you want, Valeera? What do you really want? How much is too much?”</p><p>“What do you want?” Valeera countered, rocking her hips firmly down against Alleria’s hand when the other woman finally pressed two of her fingers into her and splayed them. Valeera hissed at the stretch, and Alleria groaned quietly as her head fell against Valeera’s shoulder. </p><p>“I’m gonna lose it if you don’t do something.” Valeera might have continued. She might have attempted to keep egging Alleria one. She might have done any number of things, had Alleria not reached for one of her hands and pulled it between them to make her aware of the strange, unfamiliar feeling of something hard between her legs. </p><p>Valeera glanced down, then, as she wrapped her fingers around what they’d found. As she stroked along the length of it and watched the subtle shifting of shadow in response to her touch. </p><p>“Convenient,” Valeera whispered as she gave it an experimental tug, pleased to find that tug caused Alleria’s hips to come closer to her. “A good harness is so expensive, these days. War efforts and all.” </p><p>Any apprehension Alleria might have felt melted from her in that moment. Between the unbothered tone of Valeera’s voice and the way she was trying to pull her in, well...it was obvious Valeera wanted this. All of this. </p><p>And Alleria wanted to let go. </p><p>It seemed Valeera hadn’t been lying about her limits or lack thereof. Despite what must have been a bit of a stretch, she groaned deeply and appreciatively when Alleria finally pressed into her, though her nails dug rather painfully into the older woman’s back. Painfully, yet...not. Because the minute Valeera left welts in the wake of her nails, she stroked over them with her palm in a way that both soothed and agitated them all at once. </p><p>All of this did little but spur Alleria on. Within moments, she had her arms beneath Valeera’s back to lift her closer as she drew her hips back and then filled her once again. They seemed to share a tremor, then. One that wracked them both. </p><p>“Can you feel me?” Valeera asked against Alleria’s ear, and Alleria huffed quietly as she nodded. </p><p>“I’ve never felt anything like this.” Alleria murmured as she rolled her hips again, more sharply this time, and slowly hooked her arms underneath Valeera’s legs. “I’ve never felt anything like you.” </p><p>“Likewise. It’s...interesting.” Valeera responded with a weak chuckle, though her smirk slowly faded as her eyes were met with the slightly-off glow of Alleria’s. Instead, she tilted her head up to press a kiss to the other woman’s lips before she murmured against them. “I like to be fucked hard. So don’t worry about it.” </p><p>“How hard?” Alleria asked, suddenly lifting Valeera up as she moved to her knees so the younger woman was straddling her lap. Before Valeera could answer, she found herself pinned against the headboard. And she was happy to be there, with her arms around Alleria’s neck and their gazes locked while every muscle in Alleria’s body ached with restraint. </p><p>“You have no fucking idea.” Valeera had a grip on Alleria’s hair, again - drawing it away from her face as a moment of near-calm settled between them. A moment for tendrils to tease along Valeera’s sides and over her breasts. To tantalize her skin with power that was nearly as seductive as Alleria, herself was in that moment. </p><p>Alleria was used to this power, now. Used to the way it coursed through her veins and whispered into her ears. She was also used to it being a hindrance. Something most people wanted her to be ashamed of. Like some sort of curse, and not the thing that had saved her when nothing else would. </p><p>But that wasn’t how Valeera was looking at her right now, as she lifted herself slowly and then sank back down, eliciting a  moan from them both. </p><p>This, too, was new. New enough that despite her impatience, Alleria managed to take it slow at first. To allow herself time to adjust to the fact that...well. She was sinking into what could only be described as molten velvet, and she could feel every inch just as exquisitely as Valeera could. </p><p>That wasn’t enough for either of them, though. Not for long. And Valeera matched each sharp upward thrust from Alleria’s hips with little effort. For a while, anyway. Until her thighs were shaking and Alleria’s shoulder was littered with little bites and her skin was tingling in the wake of whispered pleas from lips now smeared and less perfect, but no less stunning. </p><p>Alleria reached to match her thrusts, now less rhythmic and more desperate, with firm strokes of her thumb against Valeera’s clit until they were both slumped into each other gasping for as much breath as they could manage to drag into their lungs. </p><p>As Valeera ran her hands slowly through Alleria’s hair, it became apparent that at least something was sated. However...strangely that realization may have come to Valeera.</p><p>“You can just pull out you know,” Valeera whispered as she peppered the bruises she’d left on Alleria’s shoulder with a series of kisses. “The, uh...dissipation was a little strange.” </p><p>“Sorry.” Alleria gasped with a breathy laugh, pulling Valeera down into the mess of covers with her into a hopeless tangle of limbs and blankets. “That was somewhat new…”</p><p>“Only somewhat?” Valeera asked as she rolled Alleria onto her back and moved to straddle her lips. “Do it again.” </p><p>It was a long time before they finally found what few limits existed between the two of them. Mostly involving exhaustion. Well. Entirely involving exhaustion. </p><p>Valeera found the spot she’d nestled into comfortable, pressed along Alleria’s side with her head on her shoulder. Alleria had found just the right way to play with her hair. Valeera, in turn, had found just the right way to run her hand along Alleria’s thigh. It had been a long time since either of them had spoken. </p><p>Oddly enough, it was Alleria who chose to break that silence. </p><p>“Do you ever go home? To Silvermoon?” </p><p>Valeera didn’t falter in her touches. She didn’t shy away from Alleria, or the question. She just nodded faintly. </p><p>“It’s not the same...but I do. Every now and again.”  She murmured, turning her head to kiss Alleria’s shoulder when she felt the older woman’s chest heave with a sigh. </p><p>“No,” Alleria whispered in agreement. “It isn’t, is it? None of it is.”</p><p>“You had...a lot more time there than I did. Before, you know. Before it all went to shit.” </p><p>“I did,” Alleria said quietly, her eyes fluttering shut when Valeera brushed another kiss to her shoulder.  “I suppose I should be grateful.” </p><p>“Who told you that?” Valeera asked as she slid a hand over Alleria’s chest. “You don’t <i>have</i> to be grateful for anything. Not for a single hand you’ve been dealt. I know I’m not. Do you know what I am grateful for? Nights like this. Nights where nobody cares enough to be anything but who they really are.”</p><p>Alleria mulled those words over for a while. They were as unexpected as they were exactly what she needed to hear. “So you know who I really am, now?” She finally asked, her eyes focused on the arched stone ceiling above them in the darkness. </p><p>“I know enough,” Valeera responded simply.  </p><p>“Enough for what?” </p><p>“Enough to know that should we both be seeking something on an evening like this again, I would be as free for the night as I was tonight.”</p><p>“Oh.” </p><p>“What do miss, Alleria?” Valeera asked into the darkness - her lips brushing against the older woman’s skin as she spoke. </p><p>“A lot of things,” Alleria admitted. “The sun. The birds. It all seemed so different, then.” She trailed off, then, and turned her head towards Valeera to brush her nose against her hair. It smelled wonderful. “I haven’t had many nights like this one, Valeera.” </p><p>“Maybe you’ve changed, too. Maybe you don’t look at the sun the same. Maybe you don’t belong in it anymore. I know I don’t. But there isn’t anything wrong with that. All I know is you deserved a night like this...and I’d let you fuck me raw any time.” </p><p>Alleria’s brow furrowed. “That was the most awful poem I’ve ever heard.” </p><p>Valeera’s lips curled as she laughed and slowly pushed herself up to sit against Alleria’s side. “I should be going.” </p><p>Alleria nodded, wearing an easy smile of her own as she traced the outline of Valeera’s body in the faint light the coals of her fireplace was still giving off - making sure not to miss the curve of her breast along the way. “Thank you.” </p><p>“It was a pleasure,” Valeera said, lingering for a moment as she made no attempt to hide the fact that she was more than appreciative of Alleria’s own body - laid out on display along the bed without an ounce of shame. She leaned in and pressed perhaps the softest kiss she’d ever given anyone to Alleria’s lips. “Until next time.” </p><p>“Mm. I look forward to it.” Alleria breathed, watching Valeera re-dress herself and slip through the door. </p><p>Not long thereafter, Alleria stood and wrapped herself in her cloak in response to a knock on the door where she found a messenger holding a little linen-wrapped parcel. </p><p>She exchanged a silver coin for the nondescript woman’s services and shut the door before she opened it to find a few elven honey buns. Still warm. Not unlike the ones she’d enjoyed so much when things had been simpler. </p><p>Not identical, of course. </p><p>But no less good. When she looked back up after taking her first bite, she almost expected to see a little flicker of shadow through the window of her door from Valeera, but there was nothing. </p><p>She slept so well that night. Better than she’d slept in...lifetimes, for some people. Sated with pleasant exhaustion and a belly full of bread for her trouble. If you could call it that. </p><p>Alleria certainly couldn’t.</p>
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